tan@ihlpg.UUCP (Bill Tanenbaum) (02/26/86)
> [Background info from Tim Sevener] > If present trends continue then in many places there will be no > public town squares, only shopping malls. What will become of > *our* political rights guaranteed under our own Constitution if > there is no place to distribute literature to the public? If one > is simply not allowed to distribute literature where the public > actually congregates? We will wind up with repression of democratic > rights similar to the Soviet Union, in which distributing literature > is to court arrest. It does not matter to me if such repression > in our own country is based upon the rights of *private* property > while in the Soviet Union it is based upon the rights of *public* > property. The end result is the same loss of democratic rights. > Nor does it matter to me if in our own country the punishment is > less severe - arrest and possible loss of a job versus eventually > being sent to a Gulag in the Soviet Union. The denial of > civil liberties is wrong. Period. > tim sevener whuxn!orb ------------------ A dastardly right-wing plot to stifle dissent has been uncovered by super-sleuth Tim Sevener. At a secret meeting, Ronald Reagan, Edward Meese, Jerry Falwell, Jesse Helms, Secretary of Defense Weinberger, and former Interior Secretary James Watt have agreed to build a large shopping mall covering the entire country. The shopping mall would then be sold for one dollar to Ed Meese, who would then prosecute anyone distributing unauthorized literature on his property. President Reagan expressed a worry that the cost of the project might necessitate a tax increase, but Secretary Weinberger assured him that the entire project could be brought in with only a 5% real increase in the defense budget. Jerry Falwell expressed concern that the project would result in unmarried men and women sleeping under the same roof. Senator Helms said that the whole idea was a Communist plot. Secretary Weinberger reminded Helms that it was Helms' idea in the first place. Secretary Weinberger requesed an additional five billion dollars to write the required 100,000,000 page environmental impact statement. Ed Meese replied that the impact statement could be waived. Secretary Watt replied that that would be a bad idea, as the paper for the impact statement could be easily obtained by cutting down all the trees in Alaska and Washington State, plus the California redwoods. Secretary Weinberger requested an additional five hundred billion dollars to include a laser anti-missile system in the mall roof. All expenditures were approved without dissent. --------------------------- Gosh, Tim. You were right all the time! -- Bill Tanenbaum - AT&T Bell Labs - Naperville IL ihnp4!ihlpg!tan -- Bill Tanenbaum - AT&T Bell Labs - Naperville IL ihnp4!ihlpg!tan